We were lucky to catch up with Elizabeth Brumfield recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Elizabeth, thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

The idea for Sun + Soul came to us while we (co-founders Elizabeth Brumfield + Sarah Creech) were in Tulum, Mexico plopped on the beach after a sweaty bike ride and missing our yoga class. We chatted about how nice it was to explore with another gal—there is immense power in sisterhood. Sarah is a fierce, hilarious blonde that teaches HIIT + Flow classes and has a passion for nutrition + wellness ooze from every conversation. I (EJ) love offering slow yoga classes, sound healing ceremonies and spiritual work. We’re quite different, but our friendship works. We started chatting about getting older; how moment’s like this—sweaty, but happy from a failed adventure with your friend on the beach—are hard to find, and how important it is for women to keep these moments in their lives…as we often don’t.

The start of Sun + Soul was born….

As women move out of their 20s there is less and less time they chose for themselves. Maybe you desire to adventure or travel, but your can’t find a moment when all your friends schedule align. Maybe you haven’t felt seen in a while. Maybe you feel disenchanted with life, with sisterhood, with spirituality.

We wanted traveling with Sun + Soul Retreats to bring lonely women together, to be a tribe that stays close long after the retreat ends.

We crafted the perfect combination of cultural tastes and ways of life that get you thinking differently, wild excursions that push you out of your comfort zone and expand your confidence, spiritual ceremony to tend to your inner child and soul, women’s circles and late night chats and early morning runs and communal meals will give you that summer-camp feel, a euphoria for life, a burst of creation.

Our “why” is creating a trip where women can just be themselves—no having to show up as someone. To feel young and beautiful and fucking alive.

It’s more than yoga
It’s more than a tour group

It’s adventure, it’s play, it’s the trip you take for you.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I stumbled onto my yoga mat for the first time in 2011; I was in a dark place, carrying guilt from things I yelled at my dying father that I never resolved, carrying anger, and many limiting beliefs, but especially that the idea that I was a bad person, that I didn’t deserve happiness. My life reflected this, and I used drugs and alcohol to feel alive. It was on my yoga mat, that I slowly started to tend to my own relationship with self and my world started to shift. I knew I had to share this practice with the world.

I’ve been leading 200hr Yoga Teacher Trainings around the world since I was 25, my first co-lead being in the marvelous Malta; these trainings have taken me to teach in India, Mexico, Canada, the US, and Bali. My favorite things about these trainings were the profound transformations that took place within a few weeks with each student—individually and as a collective. I LOVED the summer-camp feel, the life-long camaraderie, and the healing power of LOCATION (a new way of living, eating, being, + seeing the world).

As my experience with traveling around the world expanded, so did my arsenal of beautiful spirit medicine—Somatic Breathwork Ceremonies, Sound Healings, Yin, Reiki + Women’s Circles.

What I LOVE about our retreats is they are just long enough to get that life-changing, camaraderie, magical feel! Our clients rave about the beautiful balance of everything from downtime to excursions (we’ve done some CRAZY SHIT), spiritual practices, movement classes, cultural exploration, local chefs (who are sometimes also opera singers). They are so FUN! It’s truly a time to be one of the gals, and bring a little magic into your life while hanging with some rad women in fairytale-like locations.

I always thought my weird smorgasbord of passions would never join forces, but it turns out, they make the perfect combination.

To my fellow sisters, listen, I know it’s LONELY getting older, and weird. It feels like nothing is catered to you any more (I mean my favorite book genres’ women protagonists are all 18-years-old), it feels like you’re unimportant, like, all-of-a-sudden, you’re too old, or that’s not something women my age should do. But it’s all societal BS. This is our time for living, for making new friends, for getting uncomfortable (really uncomfortable), for laughing, for crying, for trying new foods, for exploring wild markets, art museums, new people.

To me, Sun + Soul something that is FINALLY marketed to women over 35+ that’s not saying “anti-aging” blah, blah,blah—Sun + Soul says, come as you are baby. It’s perfect. Let’s get a little adventures, a little spiritual, and live!

Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?

Oh my, taking this quite literally, there was an excursion on our Hvar 2024 Retreat where I thought we might not have any returning clients! It involved a Via Ferrata

For every excursion I plan for each retreats, I meticulously research companies on multiple platforms and compare reviews. The Via Ferrata was a Hvar excursions that came up time and time again. This seemed the perfect “get out of your comfort zone” excursion—it turned out to be much more

The pictures do not quite adequately show how unbelievably high on the edge of a cliff you are. 11 of us were equipped with climbing gear, and we hiked along beautiful vineyards overlooking the Adriatic Sea. We thought we were about to start a short climb to a bridge high in the mountains. We didn’t quite realize we’d be scaling the mountain thousands of feet in the air with nothing but our gear and metal steps to keep us there.

It was quite possibly the scariest thing I’ve done in my life, each us recounting moments were we had to dig deep and not let fear win. We sang Taylor Swift. We gave each other succinct directions and cheered each other on. I kept thinking, “Oh, my gosh, no one is coming back on one of our trips” But it turned out to be bonding, unforgettable and fortifying of our inner strength.

Everything we did after this excursion seemed “easy” in comparison, and it became our mantra “Via Ferrata”—If you can do that, you can do anything.

I’m telling you, time and time again, I am reminded that when women come together, we can do any thing.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Simon Sinek’s work, but especially his book “Start with Why” is our main philosophy at Sun + Soul Retreats. Each of us who lead, or are called to co-lead, share their “Why”. It’s potent to see where our “whys” overlap, but also where your work partner is coming from. It can shift the personality or purpose of each retreat, ensuring that each of our retreats are unique but remain authentic!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sunandsoulretreats.com
• Instagram: @sun.soulretreats